Category: $50 and Under

We were excited when the online Apple Store went down this morning because MacBook Pro and Cinema Display updates seem imminent and rumors have been flying about new iPhone developments. The store came back up announcing updates to the... iPod Shuffle line. Apple dropped the price of the 1-gigabyte model to $49, and debuted a brand new 2-gigabyte Shuffle for $69. The 1-gigabyte is available ...

Finally, a gift for the child who wants a puppy, a stereo and a robot for Christmas: The iDog Amp'd, quite possibly the strangest iPod accessory we've seen since the iCan't-keep-making-i-jokes-anymore. ...

Looking for a way to spread a little holiday cheer without expanding your carbon footprint? Many are switching over to LED lights this season to save electricity, even NYC's Rockefeller Center. But, you can go even further. Check out these solar-powered, LED Christmas lights, which will light up your holiday season -- even if you're living completely off the grid. The $30 set from Hammacher ...

Do we have a deal or three for you! This week it was easy to find a few good prices on product the big box electronics retailers are trying to move off their Web sites. Some small items, some big. All still in time for you to be the Santa of everyone's dreams. (We couldn't find a good deal on coal, so we hope there are no naughty boys or girls on your lists.) Find your way to BestBuy.com for a ...

Brightlings Exploration Station Give your toddler a world of discovery with Leapfrog's $29.99 Brightlings Exploration Station. Promising to teach music, numbers, shapes and words (in five languages, to better confuse you), this little toy will make sure your kids never run out of ways to play. Twenty sing-a-long songs are also included in both Spanish and English and little Brightlings play ...

Ready Set Learn! Magic Music Maker There's no doubt that music soothes the wild beast. And if your preschooler tends to grow fangs at times, consider the Ready Set Learn! Magic Music Maker (Discovery, $25), which lets your child to make, record and playback his or her own musical creations. The pint-sized keyboard has 25 electronic keys, eight instrument sounds, an LCD screen and even a ...

Lullaby Light Show Give baby a little techno magic with the Lullaby Light Show (Tomy Toys, $27). The revolving musical night light projects baby animals and different figures on the ceiling, while playing a soothing lullaby by Brahms to rock your beloved to sleep. All you need is three D batteries and your baby's ready to rest. << Back Next >> ...

Rubik's Revolution Since most kids think the 1980s are akin to the Dark Ages, it's no surprise the folks who gave us the Rubik's Cube decided to come out with something new. Rubik's Revolution (Techno Source, $19.99) is a digital version of the addictive box puzzle and features six ways to play -- all based on speed, strategy or a combination of both. Games include Light Speed, Rapid Recharge, ...

American Idol Talent Challenge Not old enough (or brave enough) to hit the 'American Idol' auditions? This holiday season, your kids can sing their hearts out with real American Idol performers with American Idol Talent Challenge (Tech2Go, $49.99), a small piece of hardware that hooks up to your DVD player and uses a microphone and mixer to make little dreams come true. Also included: a DVD ...

TMX Elmo If your child is like most, he or she probably has Elmo is at the top of the holiday wish list this year. And to make things just a little more interesting, Fisher-Price has introduced its TMX Elmo (Fisher-Price, $40), an interactive tickle toy that knows just where its funny bone is. Kicking, sitting, slapping his thigh, this Elmo is like none you've ever seen. And, of course, he ...

The folks at I Am 8-Bit (you may remember them from such art shows as this one) and a design company called Couch (great name, eh?) have put their collective pixels together to create some nice Space Invader-inspired guitar straps, particularly for those of you with 'Rock Band' and/or 'Guitar Hero' gee-tars. The vinyl strap comes in either blue or black, and will set you back $33, or ...

According to none other than Wired magazine, T-shirts have come into their own as a form of media, one that uniquely documents messages and stories, not to mention emergent technologies and companies changing the way we use the Internet. Here at Switched, we write a lot about these next-gen, "Web 2.0" companies and technologies, which include everyone from MySpace and Facebook to Twitter ...

Slash is a busy guy. In fact, we're not sure he's had any down time since recording what may be the greatest debut album in the history of Rock 'n' Roll, the Guns n' Roses classic 'Appetite for Destruction.' After the disintegration of the band and the hijacking of the name by a corn-rowed Axl Rose and a band of impostors ( whose next album 'Chinese Democracy' should be out some time before ...

Proving yet again that we haven't run out of good ideas (as a species), the folks at Charles and Marie (we'll call them "Charles and Marie") have released one of the most logical items we've seen in some time. Like Sunday mornings, it's easy: The mug turns from off to on when filled with hot liquid, and then goes back to off when your beverage is drinkable again. 25 bucks is a bit on the pricey ...

Even though listening to the Backstreet Boys version of 'Christmas Time' every hour on the hour -- at least while we're out shopping -- makes us want to seal our eyes and ears with a caulking gun, we still like to get into the holiday spirit... we just want to do it on our own terms. So, for those of us who want to spruce up our cubicles for the holidays and would rather skip those lame snow ...